17 years on
by Reveur D'Astres
Summary: The girls endeavour to regain their power and reputation 10 years after the obliteration of Townsville has sparked a conflict which has led to all out war
1. Chapter 1

It was the midnight shift in the 50th precinct in Fairbrook city. The hours made no difference to the police though. If anything, these were the peak hours. It was a quiet night today, though.

Officer Louis Bennett filled out a processing form for the holding cells. Apparently they had thought taking a drive to see the dolphins at the aquarium meant driving their parent's minivan through the gates and into the tank. He sighed and chuckled. He'd been a wild one in his youth, as long ago as that had felt.

"Bennett! Your partner's looking for ya in interrogation 2! Got a suspect on a double homicide". Louis sighed and put his pen aside. The paperwork never ended. Having a young hothead for a partner didn't help. He walked through the station and went into the second interrogation room. He glanced through the one way glass and saw his partner Rachel was already at it in the room. Louis noted with a frown that the suspect's lawyer was already there. He was wearing an expensive suit and a watch worth a year of Bennett's salary. No way could some scumbag afford a lawyer like that unless a bigger player was involved.

In his reverie he almost didn't notice that he wasn't alone in the room. A young woman in her early twenties was busily taking notes on a pad and was fixedly watching the interrogation. Bennett had seen her before. Rachel had introduced them. She was some criminal psych major writing a paper on something or other, Bennett hadn't really paid attention. He had found himself distracted at the time, caught between her good looks and the long, wild red hair.

"Hey, Officer Bennett",

"Louis, please. Officer Bennett is for our "guests". You're that ummm psych intern right? Umm what was your name again? Bev, umm Beth?"

"It's Blossom ".

Officer Rachel Santos looked to the one way glass and nodded slightly. On the other side, Blossom smiled to herself, and concentrated on Krewe. Show time

"So…. Mr Jake Krewe"

"My friends call me Jakey sweetheart" Krewe chuckled while his lawyer gave him a withering glance.

"Mr Krewe. You claim that you were with your friend on the night of the 23rd two weeks ago on the night of the murder. Your two friends who, in the past have actually sat in the chair you're sitting in now"

Krewe's lawyer nodded at him before he answered, "Jimmy and Tony are good guys, they've made a couple of mistakes in their lives but who hasn't? Yeah we was watching the game".

Lie. Irregular heartbeat. Blossom smiled to herself and knocked twice on the glass.

Santos smiled as she continued," Repeat offenders both, assault and battery, breaking and entering. I'd say the only thing they're good at is breaking the law". Now, the bullets found in our victims matches a pistol registered to you. Care to explain that?

The lawyer nodded. "It was stolen a while back, must have forgotten to file a report".

Lie. Two knocks on the glass.

"Well I'm going to be frank. Your alibi is shaky at best, and we can place a weapon belonging to you at the scene. I'm going to be frank. Mr Krewe, did you kill these men?"

"Don't answer tha….."

"No it's okay Frank. NO Officer Santos I did not kill anyone"

Something was wrong. Blossom waved a hand in front of her face. Something was seriously wrong. She couldn't see his heartbeat. She squinted, but a shooting pain erupted behind her eyes as she tried to look again. Stifling her panic, she knocked twice distractedly on the glass.

"Well Mr Krewe you can tell it to the judge. You are under arrest for murder…"

Blossom packed her notes and hurried out of the room past a somewhat bemused Bennett.

"Today, President Bellum emphasised the need for increased military presence in the Kajain war…." Santos walked past the t.v. into the bullpen after cuffing Krewe and reading his rights. She walked past the holding cells and called out,

"Anyone seen my intern?!"

"Over here". Blossom was sitting by the water filter looking subdued and pensive.

"What happened?" asked Santos, "You're usually there to congratulate me after a collar."

"Nothing, wasn't feeling so good, needed to get a drink." Blossom was slightly shaken but was controlling herself well

"It's been an awesome day. Don't let a little headache stop you from coming out with me tonight." Santos exclaimed exuberantly

"Maybe not tonight, Ray." Blossom smiled ruefully. Bennett had come out as well and rose angrily from his desk.

"I know you're not leaving me with all this paperwork Santos!"

"Aww, Lu- Lu's in a bad mood tonight"

"Don't you Lu Lu me! We had to transfer three of those kids to the infirmary, and guess who's stuck with the forms".

"I thought there were four of them?" Santos asked

"Two broken arms, and some kind of leg fracture. Last one came out uninjured. Gotta say, that little lady's made of titanium or something, she'll stay in holding, gotta wait until someone signs for her".

Santos glanced at Blossom who sighed knowingly and went to the holding cells. The girl in question was lying on the bench, short black hair hanging over one edge, feet off the other. She had one arm draped across her face and was humming a tune to herself. Blossom deliberately made her footsteps as quiet as possible when approaching the cell and said nothing. A few steps short, the girl stopped humming and sighed. When Blossom came to the bars, she was met by a fierce gaze from startlingly green eyes.

"Hey B" Blossom said

"WARDEEEN! I want my own cell! The view here sucks."

Santos was on her way over with the release form. She handed it to Blossom and spoke to the girl in the cell. "Hey Buttercup, charming as ever I see".

"Hey Ray, still grooming Little Miss Perfect to be chief pig I see" Buttercup said with a smile. She got up and came over to the bars as Blossom signed and let her out.

"We're gonna head home", Blossom said, again holding her head.

"I'm going to help Lu-Lu with the paperwork and head out", Santos said "last chance to come out with me later,".

"I'll take you up on that" Buttercup said, earning her a withering glance from Blossom.

"NO. We're going home. Later, Ray". Blossom made for the elevator, with Buttercup in tow.

"Hope you'll keep up being a model citizen Buttercup!" called Santos. Buttercup responded by oinking at her as the elevator opened to take them to the underground parking.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a phone was ringing.

"Mr Banner, sorry to call you on your personal line at this time, but

"It's alright; tell me, what's the issue?"

"Krewe. He was taken in for a double murder."

"What does he know?"

"He's an asset we've used in the past. We are still figuring that out."

"Are we compromised in any way?"

"I can't say for sure. We're working on eliminating the paper trail"

"As quickly as possible. Call the lawyer. Tell him to throw the case. We'll leave him to our men inside. He's a liability now. Too many of those are bad for business".

"Yes sir, Mr Banner".


	2. Chapter 2: When do we Start?

As the morning came, Fairbrook came alive. As with any other city, this meant a lot of traffic and less than patient motorists.

The office building dominated the Fairbrook skyline. There were numerous skyscrapers in Fairbrook, this building was neither the tallest, nor the most intricately designed. Anyone passing by would probably comment it looked "modern" but would immediately be drawn to one of its neighbours. If anything the building's most distinctive feature, was that it seemed to be designed to blend in.

Kelly was tired. It had been a really long night. Her boss had stayed in the office past midnight again. That came with the territory, he did that often. Kelly couldn't complain. The money was too good to complain. Besides, it wasn't just anybody who could say they worked for Steve Banner; CEO of Sabre International, well after today, one more person could make that claim. She looked to the waiting area at the line of prospective interns. The job was more of an apprenticeship, something to tell the shareholders about how "future oriented" Banner was. Kelly still didn't understand why he felt it necessary to give the interviews himself. She sighed to herself as the intercom buzzed, "Kelly, could you send the first one in please?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Banner".

Blossom found she was awake earlier than she'd planned. She went into the kitchen and found buttercup already awake at the table eating breakfast. Bubbles had made her special pancakes, but was nowhere to be seen. Blossom smiled to herself. It must be a big day for her, she thought. She helped herself to a couple of pancakes and sat down opposite buttercup at the kitchen table.

"Hey"

"Hey"

Blossom smiled, "How are you feeling? Are you hung-over?"

Buttercup chuckled quietly "um no it's almost impossible?" They both knew Blossom was joking. The girls' metabolisms had always been quick enough to prevent them getting drunk, or even gaining weight. "Hey, last night..." Buttercup began

"What?" Blossom asked apprehensively.

"When I was in my cell, why the sneak attack?"

Blossom paused, then covered her mouth and whispered, almost inaudibly, as if talking to herself. Buttercup watched her and then answered, "Yeah the hearing's still there, haven't lost that yet. Why do you want to know?" Blossom sighed and told her about Krewe's interrogation, and how she couldn't see his heartbeat. Buttercup listened without saying a word, and then asked,

"I need some coffee, can you check if there's any milk in the fridge?"

Blossom concentrated on the fridge for a few moments, but before she could answer, the girls' father, of sorts, rushed into the kitchen. Professor Utonium had aged visibly following the incident twelve years ago. Streaks of grey showed through where there weren't any before. He spoke quickly, "Hey girls, sorry, I won't be able to give you a lift to class today. I have an appointment I have to get to. Buttercup, we'll talk about last night some other time"

"Don't you have lectures today, where are you going?" asked Buttercup

"I have to go and see an old friend" The professor answered with a cryptic smile.

"Ok Kelly, any left?"

"Yes sir, one more"

"Ok thanks, send them in"

Kelly stood up and went to the waiting area to call in the last interviewee. When she did, she immediately noticed something that she found immediately unnerving. All of the interviewees so far had been nervous to a one. One woman had even left the waiting room in tears before she had even interviewed. This girl, however, was different, Kelly thought. She didn't know if it was that she was calm, or the wide smile she gave as she stood up, but she seemed the most prepared for the interview out of any of the candidates so far. Kelly waved her towards the door, "He's ready for you, miss…"

"Bubbles, call me bubbles" She said happily.

Meanwhile, the professor was on his way to Greenvale. He looked at his watch and realized he was running late. He merged into the fast lane and sped up. This was an important appointment. At the Greenvale penitentiary, a parole hearing was being set up. The committee stood around making small talk. These things usually ran the same, but this one was a little more unique than the others. In a small holding cell outside, a guard banged his nightstick on the bars and called to the inmate, "They're ready for you!" he called in a gruff voice. He then turned to his security team, another four guards who stood to attention nervously. The first guard looked them over. His name was Jack Murphy; at one time a career cop almost guaranteed a high position. Well until a few of the people he had been bribing got a little too talkative with local news. A resignation and a few awkward years later he found himself there. That was a few years back, before all the madness in Townsville. He had been there long enough to be considered the veteran on duty. It was surprisingly mundane work, he found. In his years in law enforcement he had seen his fair share of criminals. None quite like this one though. He was a maximum security inmate who, in his time, had only ever asked for books and a chessboard. He had only been visited by two people. One only came once but the other was a regular.

The hearing was set to begin. This was the second hearing for this inmate, and it was looking like today was the day he'd be released. One of the two people Murphy had seen visiting had spoken at the first, everyone had made a big deal over the guy, some award winning scientist or professor or something who'd turned down a job working for the president or something. That was probably the guy who'd sign him out if they decided to release him. Murphy took out his cuffs and motioned to the inmate to give him his wrists. He'd gone through the process a million times before. As Murphy and his men took the inmate out, he couldn't resist possibly the last jab he'd have at the inmate, "this reminds me of the line from that movie, what was it? Get your hands off me you damn, dirty….. What was it? I can't remember, help me out here." He chuckled

The inmate laughed derisively and responded, "Funnyyyyy, and soo original", in the most sarcastic tone he could imagine. Murphy chuckled again. In spite of himself he was savouring the experience. After all, it wasn't every day one watches a parole hearing for a talking monkey. From what Murphy had been hearing, he wouldn't get a chance to make that joke again. As they entered the conference room, Murphy saw the same man who had visited the inmate, still dressed the same, formally, except for what looked like a lab coat instead of a jacket. He smiled when he saw the inmate and spoke brightly, "Hey Jojo! Are you ready for a change of scenery?"

Mojo Jojo hid a smirk, "I wish you wouldn't call me that" he muttered.

Professor Utonium's smile widened, "I know, I know."

A few hours later, the two were on their way back to Fairbrook and stopped at a fast food joint, Utonium figured Jojo would appreciate it after his years in jail. Utonium told him to order and excused himself to take a call. Jojo ordered himself 2 bacon wrapped cheeseburgers and a banana split for dessert. The professor finished a call and put down his headset, "That was Bubbles; she just got an internship at Sabre international! Great news right? Oh just a coffee for me, thanks", he said to the waitress.

"How are the girls?" Jojo asked. Only the way he asked wasn't a question. Utonium looked across the table and squinted. He leaned forward and sighed, "Tell me what you know, Jojo".

"I know about what happened 10 years ago."

"You were already in prison at the time, so I'll spare us the time of asking you if you had anything to do with it…."

"Which you already know I didn't"

"As I said. So tell me what you know".

Jojo's food and the Professor's coffee arrived. Jojo took a bite of his burger, and the professor took a sip of his coffee while he waited for an answer.

"Brick came to see me. He had a very interesting story. Well, fast forward, I heard about what happened in Townsville and I know that the girls have been losing their powers". Jojo spoke matter-of-factly. Utonium put his mug down while Jojo talked. When he finished, Utonium looked up and smiled, a weary smile.

"Well then you know we have work to do".

Jojo grinned wolfishly, "When do we start?"


	3. Chapter 3: Good to be back

"And we're all done. I'll need you to hold the cotton while I get you a band aid". The nurse smiled as drew the needle out of Bubbles' arm.

"Is this really necessary? I've never had to do this before", Bubbles had never been overly fond of needles.

"It's regulation sweetie, Sabre has multiple government contracts so there are a few folks here who know stuff, the 'if I told you I'd have to kill you' kind of stuff". They both laughed. Bubbles immediately decided she liked the nurse.

"What's your name?"

"Aubrey, but my friends call me Brie"

"I'm…."

"I know who you are, call me Brie sweetie"

"OK, call me Bubbles" Bubbles replied with a smile

"Welcome to Sabre International Bubbles" Brie beamed, "You'll love it here". Bubbles left the office and went down the hall to her supervisor. Kelly seemed slightly overworked and glanced up.

"He's in meetings the entire day. We'll get you started with customer relations. Day one is always the hardest, any questions, you know where to find me".

"So, in conclusion, the Milgram study shows that you can get people to do almost anything if they think they answer to you, thanks for listening to my presentation" Blossom shut down her slides and took her seat. Her class was emptier than usual, and as always, only half the students had been paying attention. Professor Ellie James smiled as she looked around at her bored students. It wasn't exactly what she'd imagined herself doing when she'd chosen to teach psych, but she empathized with her students more than she let on. As a brilliant mind in her field, she'd graduated young and added a slew of letters after her name. Even after all that, a Monday morning was a Monday morning, everyone had been there. She took down a few notes and smiled at Blossom," You chose to report on a study designed to investigate why Nazi soldiers followed orders. Why am I not surprised?" She chuckled as she saw Blossom's exasperated expression at the lackluster interest shown by her class, "don't worry about it. Ask your dad, I'm pretty sure giving presentations to Nobel committees is the same sometimes. Keep at it"

"Soooooo..." Blossom said with a hopeful expression.

"A minus, Miss Utonium. Judging from the state of this class, that's probably the highest grade I'm going to be giving any time soon".

Blossom shrugged, "An A's an A I guess".

Blossom left her class after it ended. Ms. James had been right, though there had been a few good presentations. She wandered the corridors for a minute, then headed for the school's culinary and hospitality centre. She went straight to the café. It was where culinary students held their exams and was also a fully functioning bar and restaurant. She walked in and sat at the bar, "So what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?"

Buttercup laughed "What can I get for Little Miss Perfect today?"

"Anything's good" Blossom wasn't picky, besides, Buttercup made awesome drinks and was a pretty decent cook too. Between her and Bubbles they could prepare a veritable banquet when they wanted to.

"One 'Anything' coming right up". It had been, so the two chatted as classes cleared at the end of the day.

"You hear from Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"She's still at her job, but she'll be around later. What time does your shift end?".

"I still have a few hours, stick around?"

"Like you can stop me" Blossom smiled.

Meanwhile, at Sabre, Banner came out of his last meeting and went into his office. It had run longer than expected. He hurriedly asked after Bubbles and told Kelly to send her home, before dialing his personal line.

"We obtained the sample, Mr. Banner"

"Excellent, send it down to Division 6 and start the trials"

"Well, the previous tests were a failure, and even with the new sample, it's unclear whether we can..."

"Don't give me excuses before you even try, I would prefer you give me results"

"Yes, Mr. Banner". Banner put the phone down. He turned his chair to face the window and held his chin in his hands. The new serum would need a test sample soon. He picked up his personal phone again and dialed a different number this time.

"What can I do for you Mr. Banner?"

"I need Krewe. Where is he being remanded?"

"Greenacre, sir, awaiting the trial."

"What was the bail set at?"

"Well Krewe is a repeat offender and a flight risk, sir. 2 million dollars"

"Call my accountant; arrange the payment through one of our shell corporations"

"Yes Mr. Banner".

Banner put the phone down and chuckled derisively to himself. He was pretty sure that he had just purchased the most expensive lab rat the world had ever seen. Well, it couldn't be helped. In his line of work, progress was often expensive.

In a different part of Fairbrook was the Newport State University. Widely regarded as a premier institution, some people referred to it as "the lab", due to the excellence and track record of its science programs. Eventually, the powers that were decided to throw more and more funding into the science division, so much so that most other departments, save political science, simply disappeared overnight to be replace with more and more science based courses.

Jeff Malone was new to his job. Secret service detail to the president was a dream gig to some people. When he was asked, Jeff didn't have the heart to tell anyone that an accurate description of his duties was "standing around looking menacing". Today was only slightly different. Instead of waiting on Madame President, he'd been sent to look for some professor. The guy must be important. Here was the guy pulling up now, but who, or rather what was that in the front seat?

"You work here?" Jojo said somewhat incredulously, trying to hide the fact he was actually impressed.

"Yes Jojo, I do" Utonium laughed as he slowed the car down to pull into the parking lot, "and as of next week, so will you. You're going to be my aide. I'm sure you'll love it".

"Humph. Ok, that works" Jojo huffed. He was hoping to roam the place with free rein, but on second thought, as excuses go to do so, that was a pretty good one. Jojo was distracted by Utonium frowning and sighing irritably, "Not again, still you don't get to be president without persistence". Utonium and Jojo got out of the car, to see Malone making his way over. Jojo stood apprehensively. Being in and out of almost every kind of jail or courtroom one could imagine had given Jojo the ability to smell a fed, in a way that actually had nothing to do with an actual smell. "You're a new one, I haven't seen you before", Utonium was smiling again, but it was a little strained, more for politeness' sake than anything else.

"Professor Utonium" Malone shook his hand warmly.

"Let me save you the trouble, agent….."

"Malone, sir, Jeff Malone"

"Ok agent Malone, you can tell Sara I appreciate her thinking of me for the position, but I'm not interested, now if you'll excuse me, come on Jojo". The two left a little hurriedly, with Jojo giving Malone a wide berth. The pair entered the East wing of the university, and went into the biochemical department, and into Utonium's office. A typical scientist's space, the desks were cluttered with papers, the boards with half finished equations and chemical diagrams. While the office was very spacious, the mess made the room look a little smaller than it was. A space had been cleared, well, attempted to be cleared, for Jojo.

"What was that about?" Jojo asked

"Sara wants me to be some kind of UN ambassador" Utonium sighed

"You were always good at talking in circles"

"Coming from the maestro of monologuing, I'll take that as a compliment". The two laughed heartedly. Utonium went to one of his boards and turned it over, revealing a part that was previously obscured from view. It had a long chemical string on it. One that both instantly recognised. They both grew serious. Jojo went to another board and drew furiously on it for a few minutes. The finished product looked similar to Utonium's diagram, but with a few differences. Utonium came closer and the two stood in silence.

"Brick came to see me."

"Oh?"

"He was the only one besides you to visit while I was in jail. The same happened to them"

"I remember. You told me".

"I couldn't find a link though, between them and the girls. I haven't heard from them in a while, can we track them down?"

"Well, that's why we're here Jojo. Tracking the boys shouldn't be that hard." Utonium smiled, I can ask Sara. I'll have to promise I'll actually consider taking the job, but it's worth it.

"Thanks" Jojo mumbled

"Well, we are family, in a weird way".

"The Christmas cards would be hysterical". The pair laughed harder this time. It was good to be back.


	4. Chapter 4: Our nice, normal family

"Butch, you OK?...Boom?! What the hell happened?...my watch isn't working….. Boomer?! Butch! Where's Boom?!...Shit, we gotta find him!...Oh God, I can't fly! Why can't I fly?!"

Brick woke up in a cold sweat. Same nightmare. A million times and he still woke up in a cold sweat and shivering. He looked around. Right. Holding cell. Bar fight. Another one. Good times. He looked over and saw Boomer already awake and looking at his dog tags. Brick sat up and touched his. Boomer didn't seem to sleep at all these days. Butch was in the corner snoring up a storm as always.

"D day?" Boomer asked

"D day". Brick smiled ruefully. The 3 of them had been over what happened again and again. It hadn't made sense to them so they had eventually given up, and barely talked about it anymore. Brick still had nightmares. Butch lashed out literally all the time, and Boomer, well Boomer had had it the worst. He never spoke about it, but he barely slept either. He was just…different. Butch woke with a snort.

"Morning fellas. Pebble, Splat."

"Morning Daisy" Boomer smiled. The names made it better. It reminded them for all they'd been through, they were still brothers, through thick and thin.

"What hotel are we in today?" Butch asked

"Ummmm Glenmere I think"

"Oh hey, Townsville's a few towns over" Butch said

"The place is a crater, dingus. Not exactly much left to visit"

"I know, I'm just saying" Butch said sullenly

"Yeah, yeah we know." Boomer laughed, "Brick, where was Dad holed up?"

"Greenacre pen. I think he's being paroled though. If it went through he'll be out by now, though it'll be a while before we can see him"

"Maybe not as long as you think boys", came a voice from outside the cell bars.

At Sabre, Bubbles was called into Banner's office. It was just before his morning meeting. Bubbles had a vague idea what it would be about. She was making quite a splash at the company. Agreeable, dedicated, and with a desire to get along with everyone, well….who wouldn't want an intern like that? Bubbles walked into the spacious office and sat at the desk where Banner was leafing through a file.

"Interesting" Banner smiled "Only a couple of weeks here and yet I'm hearing great things about you. Keep this up I might have to make this little arrangement of ours permanent. "

"Thank you Mr Banner" Bubbles beamed.

"Call me Steve, please" Banner was at ease and Bubbles couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. Here was the youngest CEO in Sabre's history, a company with more money and power than a few countries put together, only a few years older than her, asking her to call him by his first name.

"I couldn't call you that" Bubbles replied somewhat coquettishly

"What if I ordered you to?" Banner grinned

"Do you think I would listen?" Bubbles raised her eyebrow at the grinning CEO

"Yes I do. I'm a man who gets what he wants"

"Always?" Bubbles asked incredulously

"Well, almost always". Banner conceded with a small shrug.

"You have a meeting to get to sir. If that'll be all, Mr Banner" Bubbles smiled, emphasising the 'mister'. She got up to leave. Banner followed, since his meeting was elsewhere.

"You know, I don't think your name suits you" Banner chuckled "I'd say more fiery than bubbly." He opened the door for Bubbles as they both left the office to see Kelly at her desk arranging files.

"Get to your meeting, Steve" Bubbles giggled.

Kelly's scowl could have melted a steel bar.

Malone was good at what he did. He didn't ask questions. He wasn't a yes man, but he did what needed to be done. As assignments went, this one wasn't so strange, but only at first glance. Track down 3 Kajain vets. Simple right?

Malone sat in the interrogation room and looked through the file. It was a thick file, as one would expect a veteran's file would be. This file, however did not include any pictures and half of it was redacted. Malone hated dealing with such assignments. Too many secrets and his colleagues and superiors tended to throw around words like "need to know" and "not enough clearance" a little too much for his liking. Still, nothing had prepared him for how young they were. He put the file down and looked at his charges. The boys glowered at him from across the table. Malone took in their appearance at a glance. Tough, a little beaten down. They were all wearing a couple more dog tags than they should They all looked tired, the blonde one especially looked like he hadn't slept in a week or more. The most distinguishing factor though, was the fact that Malone almost felt as if he were in the room with one person instead of three.

"Tough crowd", Malone smiled, trying to ease the tension.

"Nice suit" said Butch, with a neutral tone, but with the boys' background, Malone suspected it was anything but a compliment.

"Easy guys, like I said, I'm here to help. I work for the government".

"Last government guys we talked to weren't exactly friendly" Boomer muttered

"The last guys? Tell me about that conversation" Malone looked through the file again. No mention. He sighed. Damn spymasters.

"Long story short, if they had their way, we'd have been in the kind of cell where we wouldn't see sunlight for the rest of our lives. If you're really here to help, then you do the talking." Brick worked hard to keep his tone neutral.

"I'm here to reconnect you with your dad, well…..your "dad".

"What?!"

"Settle in boys, I guess I have some explaining to do".

Later, the boys sat around the table in the meeting room. Malone had explained the situation, and left them with time to think about it. The boys had known Jojo would eventually reach out, though it seemed he had made some pretty powerful friends inside with the speed he'd managed to track them down.

"So what do you think guys, time for a family reunion?" Brick asked.

"Anything not to have to eat anymore of Butch's cooking" Boomer chuckled.

"Very funny wise guy, don't worry, you won't have to, you're going hungry from now on". The boys laughed. Things since Kajain hadn't been easy, but having each other had made it a little easier.

"He said he was working on our..thing, right Brick?" Boomer said quietly.

"Well, yeah, but there's only so much he could do in a locked cell, but from what the suit said, he's got access to some new stuff that might help".

Butch sighed, "It's never felt right since that day fellas. I know you guys feel the same way. I get angry too quick, Brick still wakes up screaming, and Boom, you look like shit. When's the last time you even slept? We need answers, and this is our best chance to get them. Besides, he's family."

"Our nice, normal family". The boys laughed again.


	5. Chapter 5: Subject Twenty Seven

Kelly had called in sick at the last minute so Bubbles had been forced to man the desk outside Banner's office. This was easier said than done, as it seemed that the security on Kelly's computer was second only to Banner's console. Bubbles assumed this was due to all the government contracts held by Sabre. Luckily it seemed like today was a slow day for Banner, who had told her he only had one appointment and would be spending the majority of the day out of the office. Bubbles glanced at her watch, 11:10am, whoever the appointment was with, they were late. She walked into Banner's office to see him furiously typing. He snarled when he heard the door open, "You're late Meigh….. oh hey, thought you were someone else", his snarl quickly changing to a smile and his tone changed.

"I hope there's a time you're that happy to see me" Bubbles, chuckled drily

"Is my eleven o'clock here yet?", Banner asked brusquely, ignoring the jab

"No he's not actually, you sure he'll show?"

"He'll show. Just wait outside and show him in when he gets here? Then you can go home if you want to, I won't really need you for the rest of today".

Bubbles sighed inwardly and went back to the reception desk. To avoid boredom she busied herself with trying to guess Kelly's password. She noticed when the lights began flickering. Wondering at first if there was a power fluctuation, she looked up to see of a man dressed in what could only loosely be called labwear, turning the lights on and off exactly 5 times. What made it worse was the fact that he stared directly at her the entire time he did so. Hiding her discomfort, Bubbles beamed widely

"Can I help you?"

" Haven't seen you before, where did he dig you up?"

Bubbles smile didn't falter, but she was quickly tiring of her new acquaintance. She pressed the intercom and was greeted by Banner's voice, "Is he here yet?!"

"Tall skinny guy, lab coat?"

"That's him, let him in, Thanks Bubbles, that's all for today"

Bubbles looked up to tell him he could enter the office only to find him already halfway in already. Shrugging, she took out her phone and texted her sisters to see if they were free.

Meighan walked into the office with his awkward gait and made a beeline for the desk, rubbing his eye again, "What do you want, I was actually in the middle of some very important business". His tone was that of a bored child knowing he was about to be lectured by his parents. Banner was not amused

"I'm going to give you a chance to rethink your tone, Meighan"

"Give me all tha chances you want, doesn't change the fact you're interrupting my work. Was there actually something important or are you just flexing your powers suit today. Is that what you do now?"

Banner sighed as he endeavored to keep his cool. "How's the testing going?"

Meighan was busy appraising the office as though he had no interest in the meeting. "27's dead, cardiac arrest. Made it further than all the rest though"

"That's not good enough Meighan, the army's looking for a viable super soldier serum, and I can't tell them just that. That's not a progress report". Meighan, who now had his back to Banner, shrugged emphatically. Banner rose from his desk, his efforts to contain his temper in vain. He grabbed Meighan's shoulder and turned him around so they were face to face, seemingly unperturbed by the height difference between the two. "Let me explain how this works, you crackpot. Our company has the army defense contracts, but we only hold them in so long as they get results. 'We don't have any viable serum for you' is not what I'm looking to tell them, now get your head out of your ass and get to it. Or I could always send you back to that shithole I found you in. There are still a few people who'd love to get their hands on you."

Meighan's face was inscrutable for a minute. He tipped his head to one side and smirked slightly. Then, in a move so quick Banner barely saw it, he whipped the scalpel out of his pocket and laid the blade against the side of Banner's neck.

"Three minutes and forty three seconds. What's that you ask? The time between me opening up your carotid artery and you bleeding out on what, wow, I have to say is actually a pretty nice carpet. Now, usually it would be four, but you're less than calm right now, so… first things first. I can only do so much with what you give me. If you would give me whoever you got that blood sample from, then maybe we'd have some progress. As to putting me back where you found me, well I know what it's like to be on the run. I only agreed to this because you have some nice toys down there. Oh and Steve, Steeeve. Remember, most of what I'm doing downstairs is not only illegal, but probably what a lot of people would call 'unethical', or just wrong. And I have some very…..detailed records about who hired me to do said things, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't fill out and orange jumpsuit very well. So.. are we done here?" Meighan removed the scalpel blade from Banner's neck, leaving a thin red line and a few drops of blood. Not waiting for an answer. Meighan turned and ambled out of the office, calling out "send me twenty eight, like now, I actually have a good feeling about the next one".

When Meighan had left. Banner wiped a handkerchief across the cut. With a sudden yell of rage, he swept the contents of his desk onto the floor. Damn Mengele wannabe. Who in the hell did he think he was?

Even though her vision and hearing had deteriorated since Townsville, Bubbles' senses were still far more acute than a regular human being. Downstairs in the lobby, she stopped suddenly. Strange, she had never seen or heard Steve lose his cool before. Her curiosity about the lab coat piqued even more.


	6. Chapter 6: Let's talk about your powers

"Test subject…..twenty-seven…..wow, they don't make them very….durable anymore, do they? Guess this is how Mengele must have started to feel."

Inside the laboratory, multiple machines hummed. Meighan closed the file in his hand and walked to a centrifuge which was still spinning a sample. Tall and skinny, his awkward gait that made it seem like he was on the verge of losing balance. Running a hand through his greasy hair, he stuck a grimy finger into his eye and adjusted his contact lens. He had grown tired of the glasses, having chewed the ends too many times they had become practically useless, not to mention uncomfortable, just like all the other pairs. He picked up one of the test tubes, all of which had a dark liquid inside them. He switched the equipment off and walked over to a freezer filled with more vials and multiple blood samples. He glanced at one bag of blood marked "X sample" and noted, worryingly that it was less than half full. Muttering to himself, he walked past a gurney with a body and blanket laid over it, barely casting it a glance, yet speaking to it as if its occupant were still alive, "Poor, poor twenty-seven. Still, work must go on. You did get further than all the rest did, the new sample seems to help. So.. onto the next one. Hector! Hector!" he called out, after placing the test tube in his top pocket he looked around the laboratory.

"Yeees Dr Meighan," groaned Hector. While Meighan constantly had the unkempt look of a scientist who hadn't slept in days, Hector always seemed to look neat and tidy. As oppose to Meighan's contacts, Hector wore large framed glasses, tried to keep his long black hair neat, and always made sure his lab coat was clean and ironed. His demeanour was that of someone who was excited but didn't want it to show. He shambled his way towards one of the desks strewn with paperwork and charts and pointed to one of the monitors. "Twenty-seven's vitals. Heart rate spiked about 5 hours after we injected him, went into cardiac arrest an hour later, couldn't revive him. Longest time, though, out of all the subjects so far."

"Still. Not. Enough" Meighan sighed. Rubbing his eye again, he cast a withering glance at Hector, "this isn't SERN, you know, you can lose the pocket protectors and for God's sake, trim the hair."

"Just because you're comfortable with living like a goblin doesn't mean I am Dr Meighan. I'll trim my hair when you get your glasses back. You know, you're not supposed to sleep with your contacts in, and rubbing it's just going to make it worse".

Meighan picked up two scalpels and handed one to his assistant, "Spare me. Let's open him up and start the autopsy. Any word on a new sample yet?"

"Yeah, they're sending one down later" Hector blurted, giving away the fact that he'd forgotten to mention it before. With a growl of frustration, Meighan jammed the scalpel into his lab coat and shambled towards the exit and upon getting there, turned the light off and on 5 times. This elicited no response from Hector, who was used to his boss' quirks. He wheeled the gurney into the section of the lab fitted similarly to an infirmary slash morgue, and pulled out two rubber gloves and a tape recorder. "Autopsy of sample number twenty-seven…"

The girls met at a café in the city close to the university. It was mid afternoon so it was relatively quiet. The café was one of their favourites. Something about the quiet blues music piped through the speakers, the ambience, comfortable booths and privacy that really appealed to the three of them

"I swear, creepiest guy ever you guys." Bubbles laughed. "Stood there and turned the light switch five times, staring at me the entire time".

"I'd have knocked him out" Buttercup muttered darkly.

"No surprise there." The girls all laughed. It felt good to laugh together again. Times had been really tough since Townsville and the aftermath. Suffice it to say there hadn't been a lot of time to laugh, or much to laugh at.

"How can you even stand working there? Your boss sounds like just as big a creep as the science guy" Blossom asked.

"I don't know, Steve's…..he's OK I guess" Bubbles replied, suddenly seeming to find something very interesting in the bottom of her coffee cup.

"Can't remember the last time my chef let me call him by his first name", Buttercup said

"That's because you guys aren't crushing on each other" Blossom remarked snidely. Bubbles had kept relatively quiet but was slowly reddening as the conversation continued.

"Shut up! I….I don't have a crush on him, I….he's my boss OK?!" Bubbles' loss for words and the persistent blushing only made the situation more hilarious to her sisters.

"I.I.I.I…I.I I do noooot" Buttercup laughed hysterically. Blossom watched Bubbles carefully and was smirking at first and then suddenly grabbed her head as a shooting pain erupted at her temples. Buttercup glanced worryingly but knowingly at her. Bubbles was bemused at Blossom's reaction, but the look from Buttercup said more than words could, and she quickly became cognoscente of the situation. After all, it was happening to her too

"X Ray?" Buttercup asked quietly. Blossom nodded but said nothing. Buttercup had stopped trying to use hers, mainly due to fear of her trying and nothing happening. The girls became quiet. They rarely talked about the elephant in the room, though they all saw the writing on the wall. Buttercup seemed to have resigned albeit unwillingly to it, Bubbles tried to take it each day as it came, though the remedial Spanish books she tried to hide from everyone said otherwise. Their ever dwindling abilities hit Blossom the hardest. She was the only one of the three who could honestly have said that being a hero was something she'd happily do for the rest of her life. The girls snapped out of their reverie as Blossom's phone rang. She left the table to take it, leaving Blossom and Bubbles alone at the table.

"Why won't she talk about it?" Bubbles asked

"None of us do, B."

"Do any of yours still work?"

"I can still lift about a ton, run a mile in about 12 seconds, and I think jump a building if I had to, you?"

"About the same, I think. I ran to work the other day when there was traffic. I got really tired later though."

"How's your Spanish?" Bubbles froze at this, she thought she'd been successful in hiding it. Buttercup continued, "We saw the books. I know it's hard, but we're here for you, OK? We all are. Little Miss Perfect and Dad might pretend to ignore it, but, we're here, this is what's happening".

Bubbles had tears in her eyes as she nodded and held her sister. Blossom came back from her phone call. Whatever it was, it hadn't been good, they could tell. They didn't say anything, just squeezing together into the booth for a group hug, like they did in the old days.

Outside the university, Malone pulled the car up. The beaten up minivan followed better than one expected it would, betraying the fact that the boys took better care of it then a casual bystander might have thought at first glance. They parked and exited the vehicles. The boys took in the place at a glance but said nothing, leaving Malone, as always, wondering if they had some sort of triplet telepathy. Wordlessly, he walked towards the wing which housed the professor's program, and the boys followed. Upon reaching, Malone knocked loudly and entered. The lab was a mess. Coffee cups and take out boxes littered the floor and desks. They all walked in, noticing immediately the numerous boards on the walls inscribed with what anyone not schooled in advanced chemistry and biochemistry might have thought to be hieroglyphics from some long lost civilisation. Malone looked around but it seemed like no one was home. Just as he turned to say as much to the boys, there was a groan and a figure lurched off one of the couches, rubbing their eyes they looked around and emptied the contents of a water bottle as they came toward them.

"About time. I thought the government was supposed to work quickly." The figure stopped short upon coming close enough to take a close look at the boys. Malone said nothing for he noticed something he hadn't seen before. A slow smile spreading across the faces of Boomer, Brick and Butch. He noted wryly that for once, the monkey seemed to have nothing to say. Well, almost nothing.

"You three look like hell".

"Butch isn't as good a cook as you are" Boomer laughed, earning a swipe around the head from Butch. Malone wandered around the lab as the boys and their 'father figure' caught up. He passed a heavily snoring professor Utonium on one of the couches, and paused on the board nearest him, which seemed to be the latest entry and had been written in a great hurry, and a portion of it was circled in red and had arrows pointing to it. The subject matter wasn't part of Malone's skill set, so he called to the boys and Mojo.

"What does the part in the circle mean?" he asked quizzically. Mojo came up beside him and scanned the board. It became clear that Utonium, working off what the two had already done, had completed this section by himself. Malone heard chuckling behind him and heard one of the boys,

"He's got that look in his eye" Brick said knowingly. All of the boys seemed to know something Malone didn't, so he watched Mojo. The monkey slowly muttered to himself as he went over the board, finally coming to rest on the circled part. He then cast a glance toward the sleeping Utonium with what Malone was surprised to note looked like a mixture of fondness and admiration. Looking back at the board, an almost wolfish smile spread across Mojo's face.

Mojo turned to the boys, "So, let's talk about your powers".


	7. Chapter 7: Frustration

It was late evening, at the time just before the streetlights came on and the last glimpses of pink and orange were disappearing from the sky.

"Whose idea was this again?" Bubbles asked.

"Mine, I think we need this" Buttercup answered. The girls were at an old shipping yard in downtown Fairview. The neighbourhood it was located in had deteriorated since, for whatever reason, the company running the yard had gone under. Thus, old shipping containers still piled high; most of them empty were littered around the area. This resulted in an eerily silent, excluded area.

"This place was pretty popular with junkies but the city did a sweep a few months back so it's pretty empty now." Officer Santos, off duty and dressed in civvies said. She and Blossom had found the place from files in the precinct, not that it needed much finding. Louis and Rachel had had to do their fair share of rounding up drug addicts in this part of town.

"Thanks for that Ray" Buttercup said, albeit a little hesitantly. Their relationship before now hadn't been much more than Buttercup being cited or being locked in holding for either disorderly conduct, like the van incident, or a nasty incident involving a difficult customer in the university café where Buttercup worked. Suffice it to say, the customer had been convinced, very quickly to leave.

"We need to see what we can still do guys. It's been a while since Townsville. We messed up, we still don't know enough about what happened and we've been paying the price ever since." Buttercup spoke to her sisters. Blossom was uncharacteristically quiet. Bubbles had cottoned on to what they were going to do and was nodding as if in agreement. The girls set to it. Testing what powers they had left. Rachel watched from a safe distance as the girls lifted and dragged shipping containers to form a mock outdoor gym. The results were mixed. The session started well, with all three of the girls being able to lift at least 4 containers in each hand. Each of them could still knock a sizeable dent into a container, with Buttercup being the standout, knocking a dent the size of a car into hers and sending it tipping over itself for about fifty metres. The girls all tried to melt the containers but could only succeed in heating the metal slightly, something which frustrated all of them but wasn't enough of a deterrent to make them stop.

As the night wore on, they all tried to exert all the powers which, once upon a time had been reflexes but now, required more effort and concentration from each of the girls than they had ever had to exert before. Bubbles' ultrasonic shriek that could once cause the ground to shake and bring a building to the ground, could now only send nearby dogs into a frenzy and break a few windows. She held back tears of frustration and watched the others.

Buttercup was taking a break, and Blossom was doing box jumps. She had piled up containers so they stood end to end. The result was a tower that was growing bigger and bigger as she made each jump. At 5 containers she made the jump, then paused and jumped again. She ascended to almost 500 metres, and a feeling of elation swept over her as she hung there suspended. She hung for a lot longer than normal and she almost cried tears of joy, she could still fly, she could still fly! Alas, her joy was short lived, even as she tried to stay aloft she plummeted back down to Earth. On the ground, Blossom fell to her knees and cried. She balled up her fists and hit the ground, each time releasing a scream that had nothing to do with physical pain. She screamed again, and again. She hit the ground again, and again, and again. She didn't notice it but with each hit she was cracking to tarmac, and it was spreading further and further. The sound and the banging stopped suddenly as both her sisters reached her and held her, just held her. They all said nothing. Nothing needed to be said. The only sound audible in the space was Blossom crying.

In the silence that followed, a cellphone started ringing, it was Bubbles'. It rang for a minute before she answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, are you with your sisters?" It was the professor

"Yeah"

"Can you three come home? We need to talk"

"OK"

"Everything OK Bubbles?"

"No, it's not".

Awakened by some sound or other, Meighan awoke suddenly. Taking a look around, home, well, the apartment just off the lab at Sabre Banner had had built in. Yawning and scratching at his eye, he arose and shambled over to his fridge and took out a drink. He had slept in his contacts again and his eye was beginning to show signs it might be infected. Meighan stalked into the lab, and to his surprise, found Hector standing with a clipboard, taking notes.

"What….are you still doing here?" by this time, late into the evening, Hector was usually long gone. Hector didn't immediately answer, which did nothing to improve Meighan's already less than jovial mood. "HEY…..you deaf boy? I said, what are you sti…"

"I've administered the new serum combination with the new sample we derived."

"We lost 28 already?" Meighan asked, already envisioning the lecture Banner would have in store for him. Of all the disastrous human tests for their enhanced human (Banner insisted on 'super soldier' serum) trials, all of the subjects up until 27 hadn't lived more than 6 hours after the initial injection.

Hector glanced sideways at Meighan and tried to contain his excitement, indicating the still body of Jake Krewe, "I administered the serum 7 and a half hours ago. No heart rate spike, steady vitals Dr Meighan…28 is still alive, and what's more, st this rate he's going to be awake soon".


	8. Chapter 8: Pain

Pain…..Pain….Wh..Why is?...Pain….Why is this happening?...Agony…must…must escape…..run….hide…..no more…no more torture…..no more pain…no…..no more pain…..

"Blast from the past, should have figured when the monkey showed up you three wouldn't be far behind. Well, and I'm going to be frank here, you guys look like shit"

"Haha, Buttercup, Buttercup, still quite the charmer I see. 10 plus years we don't see you guys and that's the best you can do?"

"Well, some things never change Brick"

"I wish that were true, but, well, we know better than that don't we?"

The girls glanced at the professor at this comment. What was that meant to mean? His phone call last night had been cryptic enough. The girls had come home to find the professor and the boys sitting in the living room of the house, waiting for them.

"You guys can catch up later. We have something important to tell you" Mojo said brusquely. This earned him daggers from both Bubbles and Buttercup, who were emotionally stretched as it was and weren't really up to dealing with Mojo's….charm.

"Girls, please" Utonium spoke softly. Both he and Mojo looked haggard and grey. The girls sat down on a couch opposite the boys. Blossom's eyes were still red from crying, and she sat quietly and somewhat subdued.

"Alright, so, for the last few years, I've been working on a few things. There's something you all need to know. Firstly, Chemical X, in its raw form, is slightly unstable. The world didn't know as much about it when you six were born as we do about it now." Utonium spoke as though he were giving one of his lectures, although this time, his voice was neutral verging on somber. This was not the professor who delighted and intrigued his students in the university. Brick nodded, more to himself than anyone as he had heard something similar when he had gone to see Mojo in jail. The professor continued, "Now, whats been discovered is this. Chemical X is actually radioactive, but not to the point that its actually dangerous to handle, and it has a half life, normally this would mean the period it takes for radioactivity to decrease to half, but since CX's is so low, this estimate means it will simply decompose on its own. It's supposed to be 200 years, yes, I said 200. In theory, you six could live to be 200. However, as you all know, this isn't the case. Girls, since Townsville, and guys, from what you've been telling me, whatever happened to you in Kajain a year before that." All eyes were on the professor at this point. The girls' expressions did nothing to hide their curiosity. What happened to the boys in Kajain? Why were they even there in the first place? They stifled their questions as Mojo took over,

"So..in a nutshell.. the power loss you six have experienced could be a sign that well," he sighed and looked down at his feet, and paused for a minute before continuing "it could be a sign that you might not be with us for much longer." Mojo paused to let the message sink in. Brick looked impassive. He had heard this before. Boomer glanced at Brick and seemed to guess this, but the anger in his eyes suggested that Brick hadn't been forthcoming with this information. Mojo continued his train of thought, "that's the bad news. However since I got out, me and Prof might have found a solution to it. Now, it's still a theory at this stage, but it has applicable potential." Mojo paused before continuing "You six mean a lot to…a lot to us. We're not going to let you die. Not on our watch. 

Pain….NO! Concentrate…..Run…..must….run…..get away….run…run…..no more pain…need help…..yes…find help…people….help….pain…..help….help…..HELP ME!...hel…he….pain….

Santos and Bennett were on duty tonight, but so far though, a quiet kind of night. Busted up a couple of rowdy parties, college kids mostly. Santos remembered fond memories of her college days, not so long ago. They had stopped at a gas station and were having bear claws, ironically living up to the stereotype about cops. Santos took a bite and pretended to listen to Bennett, who was busy vociferating about what kind of boat he'd buy with his retirement package. Usually she didn't mind, but after what she'd seen the girls go through, she just felt….heavy. She was jolted out of her reverie as the radio began crackling. She tried to listen to the two at the same time to no avail, choosing finally to interrupt Bennett's rambling, "Lu, listen, something's coming over the radio"

"Yeah, yeah, just let me tell you. This one model's got the 420, not the 410 model engine, the 410's supposed to be better for taking out to open water with the current, but the 420….."

"Lu Luuuu" Santos resorted to calling him her pet name for him, knowing his (feigned) distaste for it

"Ahhh. What's the news tonight Ray Ray?" He sighed. He'd tell her about the boat later.

"Some people have been making calls about some kind of disturbance? Calls vary, all from the same place though, some people think it's a bear, others saying its aliens. Wanna check it out?"

Bennett sighed again. Out of their somewhat quirky partnership, he was the one who actually liked the quiet nights. Almost reaching the twilight of his career, he was subtly counting down the days. He would have been happy leaving Santos to go herself, but something about her reminded him of….. Teresa.

"Alright let's check it out" he said. They pulled out of the gas station and made their way to the location the dispatcher gave them.

At Sabre, Meighan shambled his way down to the lab. An alarm sounding had alerted his cellphone. He was irate. Good help was so hard to find. Watching over what was in essence a corpse had apparently been too lofty an endeavour for Hector. Rubbing at his contact lens, Meighan was startled to find red lights in the lab and evidence of quite the struggle. Now fully awake, the lanky scientist cautiously made his way to his desk and removed the gun he kept in the bottom drawer. Cocking it, he walked slowly through the remains of the lab, to find Hector in a heap on the floor. At first glance he seemed to have just fallen over, but close inspection revealed most of the bones on the left side of his face were broken, in some cases shattered. Meighan frowned quizzically, almost as if his assistant had been hit by a truck…..Or by something with one hell of a right hook. With a sense of dread, Meighan made his way cautiously to where they had been keeping subject 28, only to find the restraints torn, and 2 dents in the wall far too large to have been made by a human fist.

Bennet was as patient as possible. He'd taken some weird calls in his time, but this one took the biscuit. They were in one of Farview's suburbs dealing with the disturbance call. Bennett tried interviewing the elderly woman in a nightgown who had made the call. Santos' patience had worn thin and she had wandered around towards the back of the house with her torch on to see if anything was back there. Bennett tried again, "Ok, Ok Mrs Bukowsky, calm down. Go through this again for me one more time?"

" Well, I was putting Mittens out for the night and she seemed awful ornary, like when she gets when that mean boy brings his Rottweiler down the block, barking, scaring all these good people….

"Focus, Mrs Bukowsky, what did you see?"

"Well, I didn't see anything. I heard this weird sound, kind of a shuffle, then a thud. It sounded too big to be a raccoon. Mittens was in a state, back all arched and hissing"

"Uh huh, ok…" Bennett's attention was grabbed by the cat, almost as if re enacting what Mrs Bukowsky was saying had arched its back and was hissing at something, but the cat was facing the back of the house. The dogs next door had also started going nuts. Barking, howling and pulling their chains like they were trying to escape from something. Bennett had been a cop for many years, and one thing that gave him they didn't teach was a gut feeling, and he felt a pit in his stomach when he realized the cat was looking round towards where Santos had gone. Ushering the old lady back into the house, Bennett drew his gun and started walking round in the direction Santos had gone.

Hide….Hide….no, run…..hide…no, RUN….can't thi…. THINK …. Fo ….. focus …. Fo … Pain ….. run …. Run …. Hide …..can't find me…. Can't find…. No….

Crazy old ladies….Not what I signed on for…Santos though as she went round the side of the house. She shone her torch towards the back fence. There was a weird mark on the ground every few feet. Santos began musing to herself to alleviate her boredom. Must be the old lady trying to take out bags of something. She seemed pretty frail. But why take the garbage out the back? Ah.. doesn't matter, this call's a bust anyway. Wait a minute…. Santos spotted something by the fence. What looked like one of the marks before, but, wait a minute. She turned the torch away from her face and studied one of the marks. Were those…..footprints?

Lights…..no…found me…..go back….torture…..no….can't go back…..won't go back…won't…no…no…"NOOOOOOO!"

Upon seeing the hulking shadow bearing down on Santos from behind, Bennett moved with a speed he never thought possible. Just as Santos turned and opened her mouth to scream, he bulled into her, knocking her out of the way, only to be knocked off his feet and into Mrs Bukowsky's back wall by whoever, by whatever had been hiding in her backyard. Santos got up and screamed, "Lu? Lu!? Oh God, Oh God…." She drew her gun and fired on the hulking form that had just knocked her partner more than 30 feet into the old lady's house. Santos emptied her clip but the bullets didn't seem to do anything but incense it, and it, whatever the thing was, lurched through the back fence as though it were made of toilet paper and lumbered off. Santos found herself hyperventilating and grabbed her radio, hurriedly giving her location as she ran to the lifeless form of her partner, "Officer down, officer down, need immediate assistance….oh God, he's not breathing, HE'S NOT BREATHING! Lu! Lu!" The dispatching officer told her an ambulance was on the way, so Santos dropped her radio and held Bennett's hand, sobbing, "Hold on Lu, help's on the way". Looking towards the hole that…thing had made in the fence, Santos picked up her cellphone, and with a shaking hand, used her speed dial, "Come on, pick up B, pick up!"


	9. Chapter 9: Rage works for me

Meighan walked over the broken glass in the lab while poring over Hector's notes. Meighan hadn't called anyone yet. There was a reason Sabre had built this lab underground and kept all its costs off the books. For all his faults, Hector was thorough in documenting twenty eight's…change. According to the notes, an exponential increase of muscle mass was followed by increased adrenaline flow. The physical mutation had occurred at about the same time as the decreased brain activity. According to the notes, this was the point he woke up, after which the writing had stopped, somewhat abruptly. The blood spots on the page told Meighan all he needed to know. He made his way to the centrifuge and removed what was left of the serum they had used on 28. Pocketing the vials, he sat on an upturned desk and dialed Banner. Boy, would this make his night.

All was quiet. Everyone had gone to sleep. In the wake of what Utonium and Jojo had told everyone, some time to sleep and process everything wouldn't hurt. It was in the wee hours of the morning, and Boomer was up. This had become his cycle after Kajain and what the boys referred to as "D-Day". They had all moved into the house Prof. Utonium and the girls lived in. It was spacious enough that no one would have had to share if they didn't want to, but the boys had all piled into one room. The professor had found some mattresses for them, so they all slept on the floor. Boomer stepped as quietly as he could over the still forms of his brothers. They slept how they always had, Butch in the center, snoring and fighting whoever he usually did. As Boomer stepped over Brick to get towards the door, Brick turned over and mumbled "Get some sleep, Boom, you'll need it". Boomer was used to this, Brick had always shown concern for Boomer's now sporadic sleeping habits, but Boomer always laughed it off and said that Butch got enough sleep for the three of them anyway. Boomer padded quietly through the house, contemplating whether to go out and wander through Fairbrook when he heard a noise.

At first he thought it was the wind. He frowned and looked at the open window. The curtains weren't moving, yet he could actually feel a slight draft, and it felt like it was coming from the kitchen. Not only that, there was something almost, rhythmical about it. His curiosity piqued, he walked to the kitchen and beheld what anyone who didn't live in their house might find odd. A basin of water had been placed in the middle of the kitchen floor, and sitting in front of it, in nothing but a vest and her underwear, Blossom, repeatedly breathing in and exhaling strongly onto the surface of the water. While this was enough to send a draught through some parts of the house, it didn't seem to be doing much except freeze a tiny part of the surface of the water. Boomer, who'd approached the kitchen in such a way that he was behind her, watched in silence while Blossom tried again, and checked if any ice had formed. Barely any had, and she sighed to herself before trying again, and again. Boomer, struck by a thought, took one finger, and tapped it on the counter. Barely audible, but Boomer's hearing hadn't deteriorated as much as the rest of his powers had. He continued doing this, tapping a little harder each time so the noise would be louder. After about a minute of this, he finally knocked loud enough that Blossom gasped and turned, surprised at seeing him there, but doubly surprised that she had become so engrossed in her task that she hadn't heard him coming.

"What'chya doing?" Boomer asked. He decided not to bring up her hearing, letting it stand as the proverbial elephant in the corner

"You know exactly what I'm doing" Blossom retorted coldly.

"I know what you're trying to do" Boomer sighed and sat down next to her. Blossom blushed slightly. He was sitting close and they were both dressed in what they'd normally sleep in, which for her was undies and a vest, and for him, a vest and basketball shorts. Boomer didn't notice her discomfort and continued, "do you want me to tell you why it's not working?"

"Hey!" Blossom put her hand into the basin and sprinkled a little on Boomer. It was cold and a thin almost invisible layer of ice had formed in some parts of it. Boomer seemed unimpressed

"Come on, I've seen you freeze a river like you weren't even trying"

"Well, those days are gone, as you well know" Blossom said, a little more emotionally than intended. She hugged her knees and stared at the basin. The lights were off in the kitchen and they both sat in the semi darkness saying nothing for a minute. Blossom glanced sideways at Boomer, and asked quietly,

"So? Why isn't it working?" Boomer was sitting with one arm behind him on the floor, and he moved a little closer.

"You're trying to do it like you would when we all had our powers. I'm guessing breathe in, think cold thoughts, breathe out and ta-da, right?" Blossom said nothing and just stared into the basin. Boomer got up and went to the fridge as he continued, "Well, that's not going to cut it anymore. You…we can't use our powers like its second nature anymore. We have to find something else". Boomer took a can of soda out of the fridge and drained it in 3 gulps. Returning to Blossom, he again sat (a little closer than Blossom might have liked), and put the can down next to the basin. "Let's do this, you freeze the water, all of it, and I melt the can". Blossom sat on her feet and inhaled deeply, before blowing onto the surface of the water. A draught of cold air raised goose bumps on her and Boomer's arms, but only froze enough to create a sliver of ice on the surface. Frustrated, Blossom struck the surface of the water before lying back on the kitchen floor,

"Can you even melt the can?"

"I was getting to that. You have to find something else to let you tap into what powers you have left"

"OK Seensei" Blossom said sarcastically.

"You know what, forget it. I thought you were supposed to be the 'mature' one. Seems you're still a little girl" The jab annoyed a recently more emotionally volatile Blossom.

"Well excuse me, I'm not the one who decided to run away from their problems and play soldier for God knows how long. That went well though right? That guy Malone said you guys are wanted in like 4 countries now"

"You want to talk about things going well? How's Townsville these days? We couldn't go there on our way back but I heard its really changed". Blossom lost it at this comment and reared up and swung at Boomer. Boomer had been expecting it and blocked her hand. Blossom stared into his eyes, expecting fury but seeing only remorse. Blossom was breathing hard and trying to get her temper under control, and Boomer tilted his head. Blossom frowned, and Boomer tilted his head again, motioning towards the basin of water. Inhaling again, Blossom blew on the surface of the water, before lying back on the kitchen floor again, to angry to say anything. Neither of them said anything for a minute. Boomer nonchalantly turned and focused on the can. The metal surface started to bubble, and in seconds, the can was molten mush on the kitchen floor. He got up and threw the remains of the can to Blossom, who, staring at the ceiling, hadn't seen him melt it. She threw it at him, hitting him on the head. Boomer smiled wryly as he picked up the basin.

"I find rage works best for me" he said as he tipped the basin towards Blossom. Blossom squealed and flinched, expecting to be drenched in cold water. Nothing happened. She looked up angrily at Boomer, and saw him holding the baisin, which had frozen over completely. At that moment, Blossom's cell phone rang. Boomer wandered through the kitchen, listening to Blossom's call

"Hey Ray, what? Ray calm down. What happened to Lou? A what? Ray you're not making any…..what? Now? OK, I'm on my way" Blossom hung up and looked quizzically at Boomer, "So apparently some kind of superpowered mutant is in town."

Boomer smiled at Blossom' "I'll be ready in 5 minutes".

Run…Run…Pain….Lights…Lights everywhere…..Run…No…..not going back…..Lights…..Following….NO…..no more pain…..Run…run…..can't run…trapped…..No….not going back….RU…..no….FIGHT


	10. Chapter 10: Rampage

It felt like time had stopped and everything was moving in slow motion. Santos was tired, so tired. Her breath came in gasps, and her legs protested vehemently as she kept moving. The only thing giving life to her leaded limbs was the knowledge that if she didn't keep moving, didn't keep fighting, she was going to die.

"No..What? No, the national guard, the army, someone! No, YOU need to understand, the NATIONAL GUARD! No, not a SWAT team, we are not equipped to handle this….Hello? Hello? Dammit, the connection's gone!" Santos was in a complete panic at this point. Medics had managed to rush off with Lou, and she'd called everyone she could reach with her radio. Now she was cowering behind an overturned car in downtown Fairview as she tried to calm herself down. It was still about 4 a.m. and luckily, this meant the streets were mostly deserted, but they were littered with overturned and damaged police vehicles and bodies in the wake of Krewe's rampage. Almost all the officers on the scene were unconscious or worse, and the surviving officers had desperately called for reinforcements. The Special Weapons and Tactics had responded like champions, as always, managing to rally the SWAT team and even an urban pacification truck at short notice. Add to that they heard one of their own was down, only added fuel to their vigour. That was until they actually arrived on the scene. Things had gone from bad to worse in what felt like five seconds.

What was once Jake Krewe seemed to be acclimatizing to its new form, having spontaneously mutated into a hulking for that was barely human anymore. It was nearly eight feet tall, one shoulder larger than the other giving it a hunchback like figure, and scale-like growths all over its frame. Krewe only needed a tail to play the perfect reptilian nightmare in any horror movie. Add to that, Krewe now had superhuman strength and speed, as Fairview's police department were finding out. The SWAT team barely had time to bail out of the back of their van as Krewe went barreling into it, denting the side and sending the entire van, driver and all, into a nearby storefront. The now terrified, and disorganized, Fairview SWAT team tried to rally, with Santos' help, but it was no use. They hadn't signed up for this. They weren't nearly ready to deal with a situation quite like this one. What hope did they have against something that could throw a van built to withstand a tank aside like a child's toy? "Line! Get into line!" Santos tried helping the officers into line, to no avail. The few that managed to make it out of the overturned SWAT van were busy emptying their clips into Krewe, who wasn't scathed at all, which only angered Krewe and added to the danger. Even as Santos called for them to form up, some were already dropping their guns and fleeing the scene, screaming, in all directions, anywhere to escape this nightmare. Santos picked up one of the fallen assault rifles, herself knowing it would be no use, and tried to retreat. Krewe noticed and bore down on her faster than anything she'd had ever seen. Rachel Santos felt her heart in her mouth and her life flash before her eyes as she tried to raise the gun. In half a second her vision was filled with Krewe. She could see his eyes. Like an animal's eyes, she could sense the rage, the intent to destroy. All she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears. The rest of the world seemed deafeningly silent. Even as her breath caught in her throat, the vision changed. Suddenly she had moved 200metres. She realized she wasn't on her feet anymore, and felt arms around her. As Santos' feet touched the ground, her brain struggled to keep up with her senses and she began panting, hard as she realized just how close she had come to death. She saw blond hair and sighed, the girls must have got her message. She looked up, had Bubbles suddenly hit a growth spurt? Boomer put Santos down and smiled, "That's a good way to get you killed officer".

"Oh my God, thank you, thank you, I was so scared I didn't know what to do, I…." Santos' eyes suddenly clouded and tears started running down her face.

"Well, don't thank me, thank her." Santos looked up at Boomer, and whirled around to see Krewe attacking a new target in the middle of the street, one that, incredibly, was keeping up if not even faster than Krewe. Santos had to strain her eyes past the wreckage of the cars and bodies of officers, and thought she caught a glimpse of long red hair.

"Mr Banner, the Board is not pleased with your progress, or rather the lack thereof"

"My …'lack of progress' as you so put it, has already yielded a viable sample"

"Under the circumstances, 'viable' is stretching the truth, wouldn't you say Mr Banner? Reports are that you have already lost control of the sample, and it has already cost the board a fortune to keep the media out of the loop"

"You paid me to create a super soldier, a task most would call impossible, and yes, we have had setbacks, but there is a workable sample, and even better, we have the perfect testing ground and zero accountability. I don't know about all of you, but I would call this a victory. Now,my applied sciences division and I are going to use this as a learning experience, and start working on the next batch. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you a good night". Banner turned off the screen in his office. He turned on the news. All the channels said the same thing, some kind of gas leak in downtown Fairview, all citizens advised to stay in their homes. The board's pockets ran deep it seemed. Hunching over on his desk, he sighed and clenched his fists to stop his hands shaking. Somewhere between rage and terror he cursed the board for their lack of faith in him, and remembered the stories of what happened to his predecessors who had talked to the board that way. Banner took a deep breath and straightened up. Meighan, he told himself. It was time to find Meighan and decide on the next course of action.

Meanwhile, Meighan was busy appraising his samples. To a man like Meighan, his samples were everything. Meighan found a perverse beauty in what he did. Creating something so seemingly insignificant as a vial of this, a compressed gas canister of that, and watching how the insignificant ceased to be so. Whether it was a virus capable of wiping out a city, a chemical capable of changing a man's very essence, and, well, the Kajain and Townsville project, Meighan was particularly proud of what he created. In the wreckage of his lab, he had looked through Hector's notes, poor Hector, and believed he had found the key to Krewe's mutation. Meighan held up what was left of the blood sample from Banner's intern. While it seemed that she and her sisters had lost their powers, data from this test would suggest they instead lay dormant, rather than nonexistent. Meighan stuck a grubby finger into his eye and fiddled with his contact lens. It was time to see Banner. They needed more.

Mojo was somewhat of a light sleeper. Doing stints in and out of prison had left him with the habit of napping instead of getting full nights. After sleeping for a couple of hours, he scrawled down notes on what he and Utonium had been working on. After tiring of this, he went to check on the boys. Boomer was gone, but from what Brick had told him, since Kajain Boomer had never slept an entire night without waking up screaming or in a cold sweat. Mojo stopped and looked at the other two as they slept. Brick and Butch were still out on the floor of the room, Butch, as always, snoring like he'd been paid to do so. Mojo stepped into the kitchen, intending to make coffee but stopped upon seeing something a little strange. A basin of what looked like water on the kitchen floor, wait, no, ice. It was full of ice. Mojo was distracted by the flashing phone, showing there was a message on it, strange to get one at such an hour. Mojo set it on speaker as he set about making coffee, but abandoned that and hustled upstairs upon hearing the first part of the message.

"B, girls, anyone! It's Ray, I'm downtown, I was answering a call with Lou and….we were attacked by this..this THING. Lou, Oh my God Lou, he saved be but now this thing is going on a rampage and…..I could really use some help right about now. B, if you get this, please…..help".


	11. Chapter 11: All the fun

Clouds had formed overhead and thunder echoed through the streets of Fairview. It seemed like it went from a drizzle to a downpour in a matter of seconds. Even as the sky lightened as the sun came up, the unabating rain beat down on Fairview intensely.

"This is bad, really bad" Blossom thought. For so large a creature, whatever it was, it was strong, and it was fast. Blossom found herself immediately on the back foot as she tried to dodge the blows from the monster she was facing. The rain was making it harder and harder for her to keep her footing, and what was worse, whatever that thing was, it was learning. Blossom jumped back and sideways again and again as Krewe struck and struck again, each time missing her by inches. This enraged Krewe all the more and it redoubled its efforts, each attack getting closer and closer. Blossom slipped suddenly on the water gushing over the street and Krewe struck her in the chest, sending her through two police vehicles and into the side of a building. Blossom caught her breath. It was strong too. She'd taken worse before, but not in her almost- powerless state. She doubled over and coughed. When she wiped her mouth, she noticed red spots on her hand. She clenched her fist and smiled. She had missed this feeling, the adrenaline, the excitement, the danger. There was something else this time, something new. As Blossom leapt forward with her fist clenched, she realized it. Her hand was shaking. She was afraid. It could kill her and it knew it. It was waiting for her. Blossom tensed her legs and jumped almost flying out into the street, and struck its head. It stumbled backwards. Blossom sensed the opening, this time slamming her fist into where its stomach would be. Air shot from its mouth as it staggered backwards and lost its footing, landing on its back with a thud that shook the street.

"Get back!" Blossom was about to attack again when she heard the yell from Boomer, who came in from above and landed on the beast with both feet. Hard. The rain itself seemed to stand still as the shockwave scarred a crater in the street, sending every car still standing rolling over, and every window in the area shattering, the broken glass blending with the rain to create an almost eerie scene. Blossom relaxed, as Boomer landed beside her.

"Don't let your guard down, red. He's not done". Boomer kept his eyes trained on the crater with Krewe at the bottom of it.

"Don't call me Red, asshole". Blossom couldn't help but smirk as she said it.

"Cold as ever, maybe I'll call you ice queen instead", Boomer retorted, "Everyone's off the street. Your friend was pretty shaken."

"Thanks".

"Don't thank me yet". Boomer walked backwards and raised his fists as the ground shook again. With a roar, Krewe clawed its way out of the crater and onto the street. Raindrops sent up little trails of steam upon falling on the beast. Blossom hoped it was her imagination, but was it getting bigger? Blossom breathed in deeply. She could feel every drop as it hit her. Her hands were shaking again, and she beamed as she and Boomer faced down the beast again. God, how she had missed this!

"Is it ready?" Utonium's face was set, and a vein was clearly throbbing in his right temple. He watched as Mojo separated a vial of dark liquid into six syringe guns.

"Short answer's no. You know as well as I do" Mojo was curt, brusque as always.

"Bring it anyway. How many do we have?"

"Six shots, one for each."

"Worst case?"

"Worst case it accelerates the process and they die faster than they are already"

"Bring them anyway". The two walked outside to Utonium's car to find Malone waiting with a large case.

"The president's been briefed, but with the Kajain situation the way it is, we're on our own for now." Malone hefted the case and placed it on the trunk of his car, causing the vehicle to sag slightly, "Visited the government's vault, I think this dangerous little toy is one of yours" he said, addressing Mojo, "Where are the others?"

"They left already", Mojo said, as he dug into the case and lifted out what looked like a futuristic bazooka, hefted it over his shoulder and caressed it lovingly, "They can still get anywhere a lot faster than any of us".

"I don't doubt that, but there's backup, just in case"

"You should know, this is long range, I designed this to, um…well

"Wipe out a few city blocks?" Utonium said with a sardonic smile. Mojo didn't say anything. Utonium placed the box with the syringe gun under his arm, "Don't get used to this, agent. He's rarely ever this quiet. Hopefully he won't have to use that. Let's get going".

The rain had stopped and the sun was showing through the clouds. Police had closed down as many city blocks as possible, but it was difficult to estimate possible damage in a situation like this one. Santos had retreated to what she considered a safe distance, halfway across town, and was relying on the FPD helicopter relaying second hand information.

OK, bad might have been an understatement, Blossom thought. It seemed like it was enlarging its body as its fury grew. Yet even as its body grew, the beast itself seemed to be just as fast as it was before.. Blossom ran toward the beast from an angle and launched herself at it from its blind spot. It caught her punch. They struggled, with Blossom's strength holding up. Back in the day she'd have overpowered Krewe in a heartbeat. With a roar, the beast raised its other hand and struck down at Blossom's head. Blossom blocked it, but with Krewe holding her other arm, she couldn't dodge the next blow. Or the next one. Or the one after that. Blow after blow rained down on her, knocking her down to one knee. Rage, rage, she thought. Raising her shoulder, she grabbed its arm, turned, and jumped. As big as this thing was, she knew karate. As they both rose into the air, Blossom flipped Krewe over her shoulder. With a roar of her own, she threw the beast head-first into the street with a thud that likely registered as an earthquake. Jumping back, Blossom went over to Boomer, who was shakily getting to his feet,

"You alright blondie?" Blossom laughed, a little more derisively than was needed

"He sucker punched me, alright?!"

"Then hit him bac…ouch". The arm Blossom stretched out to help Boomer suddenly burned in agonizing pain. Her wrist suddenly went numb, and her fingers barely moved. This was new. "My arm's broken". Blossom said it, something she never thought she'd say in her life.

"Maybe you should take a beat, red". Boomer was slightly out of breath

"Can't do it. He's still not done". Blossom knew it even before she heard the roar. It was even louder this time, more of a howl than a roar, but just as loud, just as furious. It came even faster this time. Boomer tried to get in front of Blossom as it approached, but right before it bore down on them, streaks of Red and Green arced through the sky and landed on the back of its neck, sending it crashing down into the street. As Blossom and Boomer sighed their relief, Brick and Buttercup appeared next to them.

"Can't let you have all the fun, Miss Perfect".


End file.
